The present invention relates to a vehicle armrest and particularly to an improved mounting structure therefor.
Many modern vehicles include center armrests which pivot between a raised stored position and a lowered use position for the comfort and convenience of the driver and/or passenger. Typically these armrests are mounted to a generally U-shaped bracket during assembly of the automobile which is either preassembled to the armrest and subsequently fastened to the underlying support structure for the vehicle or alternatively the armrest is mounted within the bracket once the bracket is installed in the vehicle. With either method, it is necessary to either deflect the bracket or otherwise provide additional structure for inserting and locking a pivot axle between the bracket and armrest, leading to additional parts expense and/or manufacturing costs. Thus, there exists a need for a mounting system for attaching an armrest to a mounting bracket easily during manufacturing of a vehicle which does not require special tools, skills or mounting structure.